Tips for Making a Seamless Switch From Salesforce to HubSpot

Switching from Salesforce to HubSpot can be a daunting process – especially for teams that have been using Salesforce for years. However, with the right plan and team, the transition can be made seamless. In this article, we’ll cover some of our top tips to ensure you’re set up for success when making the switch from Salesforce to HubSpot.

Why Make the Switch From Salesforce to HubSpot?

Let’s take a look at Salesforce vs. HubSpot at a glance. Salesforce is a powerful CRM and sales enablement platform with superior customization and reporting capabilities. HubSpot, on the other hand, is a unified CRM software platform with a robust set of marketing, sales, and customer services tools that make it easy to manage everything in one place. Compared to Salesforce, HubSpot is an incredibly easy-to-use interface and offers flexible pricing options and tiers based on your business needs. 

Switching From Salesforce to HubSpot

Migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot requires careful planning and preparation in order to ensure a successful transition. The following are the steps businesses should take when switching platforms:

Step 1: Understand Your Needs and Outline Your Goals

The transition from Salesforce to HubSpot requires an in-depth analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities of both Salesforce and HubSpot. Mapping out your business processes and feature needs, as well as identifying your business goals, is a great way to start. This will allow your team to identify and prioritize the necessary actions for a successful migration.

An understanding of your current processes in Salesforce is key. This is your chance to take a step back and discuss with your team how the process can be improved by leveraging HubSpot.

Think about how you’re currently using Salesforce and how it’ll in term be utilized in HubSpot, such as reporting capabilities, contact management, lead scoring, customer segmentation, email campaigns, and marketing automation capabilities. Not only will this help clarify any data syncing concerns in the forefront, but should help you determine the right HubSpot tier that you can grow into.

Step 2: Roadmap the Transition Process

Once your goals and needs are identified, it’s important to create a roadmap for the Salesforce to HubSpot transition that outlines the timeline, resources required, responsibilities of team members involved, objectives, and any risks associated with making the switch. This plan should be tailored to your organization and be reviewed regularly so that any issues can be addressed quickly during the transition.

It’s important to keep in mind that a full data platform switch can be timely (3-6+ months) and may require further management. If you’re unsure how to set up a successful transition process, you may consider partnering with a HubSpot digital agency, like Pyxl, to help guide you in the right direction and keep you on track.

Step 3: Clean Up Your Salesforce Database

Once you have your plan in place, the next step is to clean up the Salesforce database. This includes removing any inactive or outdated leads and contacts. You can use platforms like Neverbounce to make the process of cleaning data easier. You’ll also want to review your Salesforce objects, such as accounts, contacts, opportunities, and campaigns, to see what’s still being used, and consolidate as needed. 

While HubSpot automatically deduplicates contacts using email addresses, and companies using domain names, you’ll want to try your best to clean up any data in Salesforce before the migration begins to keep your data as “true” as possible. Additionally, Salesforce users should audit existing automation rules and activities to ensure that important information or processes are not lost during migration.

Step 4: Export Reports 

Another important step before starting the migration process is exporting any reports that your teams would like to save prior to switching platforms. Unfortunately, HubSpot will only collect data upon the migration/sync, so you won’t be able to see any past data from Salesforce living in HubSpot once you make the switch. Reports can provide valuable insights regarding customer preferences, market trends, and sales performance metrics which can be useful to compare performance after transitioning into HubSpot.

Step 5: Organize Your Data and Map Your Fields

The hardest part about migrations is that people don’t usually think about how all the data will live in HubSpot. You’ll need to ask yourself, what properties (or “fields” in Salesforce) are currently collected in Salesforce and how? What is the property type (aka single text box, dropdown, multi-select.)? Are certain data points collected in Salesforce that need to be synced or recreated in HubSpot? Will the data in Salesforce be able to be collected and stored the same way in HubSpot? By mapping this out in advance in a Google spreadsheet or a miro board, for example, you can start to make sense of how data will sync from Salesforce to HubSpot and what properties and values need to be created in HubSpot, in addition to HubSpot’s default properties, to map over.

It’s also important to understand the different terminology and how something that is defined in Salesforce is defined in HubSpot. Here’s a quick overview of how to define objects in Salesforce vs. HubSpot.

Source: iv-lead.com

Something to consider and prepare for in advance is that Salesforce objects may not always have a one-to-one correlation with a standard HubSpot property type because of Salesforce’s complex customization capabilities, but utilizing HubSpot’s Custom Objects can present excellent opportunities.

HubSpot Custom Objects are created using a drag-and-drop editor within HubSpot’s interface, where you can define the properties and fields that your custom object will contain. Once you’ve created a custom object, you can add records to it just like any other HubSpot object, and you can associate those records with other objects in your account. 

They are also customizable with workflows, lead scoring, and analytics, allowing you to automate processes and gain insights into your data. This can help you better understand your business and make informed decisions based on the unique data you collect.

Something to keep in mind is that while HubSpot Custom Objects offer more flexibility, they do require some heavy development that can be cumbersome, so you’ll want to include this in your timeline and set this up in advance before making the switch.

Step 6: Setting Up A New HubSpot Platform

Once Salesforce has been cleaned up, report exports have been completed, and properties have been mapped out, you can begin setting up your new HubSpot platform settings and preferences:

• Create custom fields for new data points.
• Transfer contact lists into the new platform.
• Set up automated processes for syncing data between platforms
• Configure other settings, such as language preferences and notifications, as needed. 

You’ll want to be familiar with HubSpot and its capabilities before you sync your entire database over. Try uploading a few tester contacts in HubSpot to help make sense of how the data lives in HubSpot and the different features you can use. It is vital to test out your new system by running through scenarios you typically encounter while using Salesforce (such as sending out emails or generating reports). Doing so will help identify any potential issues that may need further tweaking after the migration has already occurred so that regular operations can continue unaffected by the transition process. 

If you want to streamline setting up HubSpot for your business you should consider partnering with a digital agency for your onboarding needs. Not only will they provide technical and strategic support during your HubSpot platform’s set-up, but can also help create a viable marketing plan and provide recommendations for future success.

Step 7: Sync Data Using a Native Migration Tool

It’s recommended that businesses take advantage of Salesforce’s data migration tools when switching over to HubSpot. Salesforce offers a range of built-in features, such as Salesforce Data Loader, which helps with importing, exporting, deleting, or even updating data within Salesforce records. Additionally, Salesforce has integration capabilities with a number of third-party applications like Zapier, which allows users to transfer data between Salesforce and HubSpot seamlessly without having to manually enter information into both platforms. Additionally, HubSpot also offers a user-friendly native migration tool. Exporting your current Salesforce data in a .csv format allows you to upload it directly to HubSpot. 

Step 8: Review and Test

Once the data transfer is complete, review your contacts and assets to make sure everything is synced over properly. Once you feel confident that your data is correct, you can begin slowly turning on your workflows and reports in HubSpot to start collecting data and automating processes. Continue to keep an eye on all new systems and adjust as needed. 

Get the Most Out of HubSpot with Pyxl’s Expert Assistance

Once all the data has been moved successfully over to HubSpot it’s essential that your business review your automation processes in light of this new platform. Have processes been improved? Are teams able to collaborate more effectively? Is there potential for further optimization? Answering these questions can help your business maximize your investments in HubSpot and get the most out of your new system. 

Whether you need assistance with switching or if you have questions, Pyxl is here to help! As a Platinum HubSpot Partner, Pyxl will ensure a smooth and efficient transition, minimizing disruptions to your business operations and maximizing the benefits of using a new platform. By partnering with us, you can avoid the common pitfalls that often plague migration projects, such as data loss, workflow errors, and user adoption issues. We offer specialized HubSpot services that can assist your business with HubSpot’s marketing and sales services, implementation services, and support services. If you wish to migrate to HubSpot, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our team of digital experts would be happy to assist you!

Updated: Mar 08, 2023